Kajagoogoo

Kajagoogoo /kædʒəˈɡuːɡuː/ are a British new wave band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.

Formed in Leighton Buzzard in 1978, the band were originally known as Art Nouveau, a four-piece avant-garde instrumental group, with Nick Beggs on bass guitar, Steve Askew on lead guitar, Stuart Croxford Neale on keyboards, and Jeremy "Jez" Strode on drums. Art Nouveau released a track called "The Fear Machine". The single sold a few hundred copies, and was played on the John Peel show, but the band were unable to get a record deal.

In 1982, they advertised for a lead singer, ultimately auditioning and choosing Christopher Hamill, who then went under the stage name Limahl (an anagram of his surname). The name of the group was then changed to Kajagoogoo, coined by phonetically writing out a baby's first sounds, which gave them 'GagaGooGoo' – and with a minor alteration, it became 'Kajagoogoo'.

The band was originally founded in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, in 1979, as a four-piece avant-garde instrumental group, called Art Nouveau, with Nick Beggs on bass guitar, Steve Askew on lead guitar, Stuart Croxford Neale on keyboards, and Jez Strode (born Jeremy) on drums. Art Nouveau released a track called "The Fear Machine".
The single sold a few hundred copies, and was played on the John Peel show, but the band could not get a record deal.
In 1981, they advertised for, and auditioned, lead singers, and finally chose Christopher Hamill.
He made his profile, and therefore that of the band, catchier by using an anagram of his surname for his stage name, becoming Limahl, matched with his typical double colour hairdo (blond on top and black on sides).
The name of the group was then changed to the also catchier Kajagoogoo: writing out the phonetics of a baby's first sounds gave them 'GagaGooGoo' - with a little bit of an alteration, it became 'Kajagoogoo'.
The band attracted the interest of three record labels (and Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes), while performing at the Embassy Club, in London. The group was eventually signed to EMI, in July 1982, and Rhodes was hired to produce their first album, White Feathers along with Duran Duran's producer Colin Thurston. In between events, they supported Birmingham band Fashion on tour. Their debut single, "Too Shy", was released in January of 1983 and went to the top of the charts (before any of Duran Duran's singles had done so, Rhodes noted ruefully). Follow-up releases, "Ooh to Be Aah" and "Hang on Now", both reached the UK Top 20 as well.
As success came, tensions began to rise in the band, which eventually culminated in Limahl being fired by the other band members in mid-1983 and Beggs then taking over as lead singer.
The first single by the new four-piece Kajagoogoo was "Big Apple", which made the Top Ten in late 1983. Their next single, "The Lion's Mouth", made the Top 30 but then the hits dried up completely ("Turn Your Back on Me" failed to enter the UK Top 40, stalling at no.47), and the subsequent new album, Islands was a commercial failure, peaking at only Number 35 in the UK. Strode then left the band and, in an attempt to gain some credibility and to lose their bubblegum image, the remaining three members relaunched as Kaja in 1985. The four-piece version of the band, including Jez, had already made their appearance in the U.S. as Kaja, the previous year, when a different edition of the Islands album was released there as Extra Play, only peaking at Number 185 in the Billboard charts. However, this new version of Kajagoogoo was also a failure, and the band went their separate ways in 1986, after issuing the UK single "Shouldn't Do That" (UK #63). The single was taken from their last album Crazy People's Right to Speak and had also featured on the soundtrack for Santa Claus: The Movie.

80's Hits

Too Shy

Album:

White Feathers
(1983)

Lyrics:

Tongue tied or short of breath, don't even try, try a little harder.
Something's wrong, I'm not naive you must be strong,
ooh baby try, hey girl, move a little closer